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We got a pleasant surprise back in 2014 when The LEGO Movieturned out not to be a cash grab by a massive corporation hoping to sell more merchandise but… Well, OK, it kind of still was that, but at least it had enough respect for the audience to serve up a genuinely funny, smart film along the way. And for that we have directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller to thank. It’s good news, then, that the pair are returning to spruce up the script to the sequel.

Thanks to comments from producers Dan Lin and Chris McKay, we now know exactly which route the duo will head down here. Specifically, the sequel will follow on directly from the ending of The LEGO Movie. If you recall, the film closed with Will Ferrell’s previously uptight dad letting his son play with the LEGO city he had built. There was one condition, though he had to let his little sister play, too. Cue giant Duplo figures terrorizing Bricksburg.

LIN: “We are going to The LEGO Movie 2. The team is all back together, so it’s [Phil] Lord and [Chris] Miller, myself and Chris McKay. Mike Mitchell is the new voice who’s coming in to direct the movie. Chris and Phil are rewriting the script right now, but we’re in production. We’re picking up where the first movie left us, where the Duplo have now come and they’re attacking Bricksburg. It’s several years later, and you’re going to see the result of that.”

MCKAY: “The Duplo represents Finn’s sister, Finn being the little boy from the live-action. The Duplo is her. The man upstairs said, “You’ve gotta play with your sister. That’s the thing you’ve gotta promise me. I’ll let you play with my world, but now you’ve gotta let your sister come in and play with your world.” Now, she’s coming in, and that’s the major thing that the movie is about. What’s different and similar about gender, when a boy plays vs. how a girl plays? What kinds of stories are there? Chris and Phil are super fucking smart and really thoughtful and sensitive writers. The kinds of questions and the interesting ideas that they’re getting into with this movie, it’s going to be like the first LEGO Movie was, where it’s about something else that’s really profound. I’m really excited about where the movie is gonna go because it’s about these things that are actual notions that people have that might even be unconscious biases, where people don’t even realize that that’s the way they’re looking at the world. You can do that in a movie like this, and still have it be a great musical with fun songs, and have action and all of the other crazy things we’re gonna get into with that movie. It’s gonna be a really special movie.”

After The LEGO Movie so successfully managed to marry its wacky comedy side with genuine emotion and a heartwarming message, it’s encouraging to see that the sequel is aspiring to do the same. The issue of how boys and girls play as children and the expectations of what toys they can and can’t have is a hot topic right now, as many toylines have been criticized for stereotyping the genders. Let’s hope that the upcoming sequelis able to say something meaningful on the subject.

The LEGO Movie 2 is directed by Mike Mitchell (Shrek Forever After) and will arrive on February 8th, 2019.